When Cleaning the Sewers
by StrawHatCat
Summary: The sewers weren't exactly Maria's first choice for a workplace. They prove to be much more than she initially thought, though. After finding our favorite family of mutants living down there, her life becomes much more interesting. The sewers hold more secrets than a family of ninjas, though. And the other mysteries hiding down in the sewers aren't nearly as friendly.
1. Chapter 1

Hi, all! Well, this is my first time writing something like this, so wish me luck. I'd love to hear any feedback you guys are willing to give. The multitude of italics in this story are the thoughts of Maria at the time of the events, rather than the past tense narration not in italics. It's just a different writing style I thought I'd try out. This first chapter doesn't really have any turtles in it, and the next one probably won't either. I just wanted this first chapter to be a character exposition. Hope you all enjoy this!

Disclaimer- Now and for the rest of this story, I will never own TMNT. There. Now engrave that in your mind, so that I never have to write a disclaimer for this story again, and you never have to read one!

Chapter 1 - I Really Hate Spiders

_Get a job, Maria. It'll be good for you, Maria. You need the money Maria._

Honestly! I know I really wanted some extra cash, but this was ridiculous! There I was, cleaning the sewers of New York City! I could think of a million things I'd rather do than cleaning up who-knows-what in the middle of a dank, dark tunnel that makes me want to puke every time I breathe.

_Stupid mayor with his stupid city cleanup in response to stupid water quality and back-up complaints. Isn't this what the concept of a sewage plant is for?_

Okay, I didn't mean that. This probably helps out somehow. Lowering the rate of sewage backups or something like that. Still, it was better than some other jobs I could have gotten.

_Like telemarketing. Or McDonalds._

At least down here I can use my Ipod on the job, and I don't have to worry about rude customers since I don't see, let alone talk to, anyone.

_Oh, gross! I don't even want to know what that is!_

I quickly went about dislodging a rather large lump of something gruesome with the metal pole my employer provided. The only things that kept me from quitting this job were the provided sanitary gear, flashlight, and the consoling thought that it was like an adventure in an unknown dungeon.

_And the fact that those specks of dirt on the wall, the oddly moving specks of dirt, were just specks of dirt. I don't need to clean that dirt, though. Or touch it. Or stand anywhere near it for any longer than necessary._

The actual work of the job was remarkably easy. Once I started to forget about the pungent smell and didn't look too closely at grossly unidentifiable objects. All I had to do was walk around the sewers, making sure that everything went with the water flow and nothing was clumping up. I even get a map so that I know where I'm going. I get the day off when it's rained a lot too, due to dangerously high water levels.

I turned the corner, keeping with my good old right turn rule so that I wouldn't get lost. Sure I get a map, but I hate staring at it the whole time I walk, so I just count out a nice number of right turns to make in the tunnels, and mark where that will leave me on the map. That way I can put the map away most of the time. Then, it's just a matter of making those turns myself and repeating the process until my shift is over. I was currently on turn number five out of eight, soon to encounter the sixth turn. In fact, I almost missed said next turn, in the form of an abandoned looking door inset in the sewer wall, while staring at the water flow.

_Which, oh so coincidentally and definitely not on purpose, also allows me to ignore the specks of dirt shifting on the wall._

"Wow. Can't believe I almost missed that! That IS the next turn right? I'd hate to get lost down here just because I was too unobservant to notice the next turn. There's not even that much to distract me down here either! I really gotta work on that." I said to nobody in particular.

_Unless you count the specks of dirt now falling gracefully from the ceiling that most definitely can't hear. Because they are dirt._

This rambling and talking to myself brings up the question of my sanity, which is actually still intact at the moment believe it or not. Yes, when I work in the sewers, away from the company of other living beings, _unless you include the dirt,_ I have a slight tendency to lose a bit of my sanity. But I swear it always comes back! It always starts with me talking to myself, _and the dirt,_ and it occasionally works itself to be a little more extreme.

_Like the dreaded Overtime Incident. Mom still gives me weird looks whenever I hold chopsticks. Like she still thinks I'm going to start scolding Al, Jimmy, and Marvin about the way they fail at holding my chopsticks again. Don't get me wrong, they still can't hold chopsticks to save their lives. I just regained enough sanity to not talk to my fingers in front of my mom._

Back on the subject of the lovely inset door. Honestly, the thing looked like nobody had touched it in a couple decades. The entire surface was covered in mold, or algae, or rust, or whatever that stuff was that just enhanced how unused the door looked. Spider webs stretched from the handle to the sewer wall.

_How they got there when there are no spiders in the sewers is anyone's guess._

I quickly swept away the spider webs with the end of my pole. They came away easily, leaving the way clear for me to reach out and open the door.

_But first! Definitely need to check around the handle to make sure here are no spiders there. Not that there are spiders in the sewers, or that I'm scared of them or anything. I just don't wanna touch one._

After I assured myself that the handle was safe to touch, I reached out and tugged on the door.

_Jeez Louise! I know I'm not really athletic or anything, but there is no way I should be too weak to open a stupid door!_

The thing wouldn't budge. I didn't bother counting the amount of times I kept trying to tug open the door. Like the result would change if I did it a ton more times. To say the least, I became extremely frustrated and yet I was too stubborn to just walk away and forget the door.

_And obviously, when I can't forget about the cause of my frustration, the next best option is to take up my metal pole and attack the door with all of my mature, pent up fury._

Obviously, the door didn't magically open after I vented out all of my energy. Especially when you consider that I had to pull the door to open it. And considering that a pull force is a vector that extends outward from the door and all of those attacks of mine were a vector that extended inward from the door I can logically assume that, if anything, those attacks were the exact opposite of what I needed in order to open the door.

_WOW. I need to stop paying attention during physics class. I'm actually starting to apply it in the real world._

It took me a while to catch my breath after my little episode, "Alright…Mr. Door…you may have…won that round…but…I'm not giving up…not 'til you open up and let me…finish my eight right turns."

_I'm going to give up really soon. If it doesn't work on my next try, I am totally walking away and never mentioning this event to anyone._

Luckily for me and my big talk, the door actually opened on my next try. Which was really weird because I barely put any strength behind my tug. I had given up. I don't know what made the door open. It might have been that all of my attacks shook loose rust from the door hinges, but whatever it was, the door was now open.

_Maybe it was all some strange worthiness test. And the door realized how awesome I was after my display of infinite fury, and decided that I was one of the great few allowed to pass through it…yeah, right._

With the door out of the way, I stepped into a narrow passage.

* * *

It took approximately half an hour of walking down a dark tunnel without any right turns to realize that the wonderfully difficult-to-open door was most likely not meant to be one of my right turns. All of the walls looked the same, and there wasn't any sewage anywhere.

All in all, the passage was incredibly boring. I can't even find the words to explain how boring it is to walk down an endless tunnel, with no interesting details, for half an hour. I was so unimaginably bored that I had begun skipping and singing show tunes along the way.

You may be wondering why I didn't just turn around back the way I came, and the answer is simply that I thought it would be a waste of an hour of my life. If I spent half an hour going down the tunnel, then I would have spent a total hour in that tunnel. Only walking. A waste of time that I could have spent doing something even slightly productive.

_I've already gone so far. I might as well keep going and find out what lies at the end of the tunnel._

There may have been a hint of the same stubbornness that afflicted me at the Difficult-to-Open Door Incident still existing when I made that decision. All the same, I was skipping, singing show tunes, and following the light of a dim flashlight down an endless tunnel.

"-It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again! Ya dada dada da-" It was just as I was reaching a point of the song where I forgot the lyrics that I found my endless tunnel stopped by a similar, but not identical, mold/algae/rust covered door.

The main difference between the doors was that, while the first was meant to be pulled open, this new door was meant to be pushed open.

_And as a girl who just finished walking down an unbearably long tunnel after opening a similar door, I did what anyone would do and began working to push open the door._

My new door appeared to admire the previous door's resistance. The only problem was that, while I desperately tried opening the first door I was able to hang on the doorknob, and the new door made me press all my weight against its surface. This didn't seem too bad until the damp, underground floor made me lose my footing and fall face first to the ground.

_I refuse to admit how many times I've landed right on my face. I'm amazed I don't have a bloody nose yet!_

Thus, I was once again stuck, frustrated, at an immobile door. Using my previous experience with immobile doors, I once again went into a raged, granted tired from a long walk, attack with my metal pole.

_And once again, violence does not appear to be the answer to opening doors. But maybe it'll open when I try pushing again? Otherwise I'm probably stuck on another hour long walk down the tunnel. This will end up worse than the Overtime Incident at this rate._

Unfortunately, my strategy didn't work this time. The door continued to refuse to move. I sadly began to turn around to begin my long trek out of the tun-

_And I'm met with a SPIDER right in front of my face. Not dirt! Most definitely a spider hanging from an invisible thread on the ceiling! Oh my God! Spider! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!_

With a muffled scream, I bolted in the opposite direction of the nightmarish creature. Which, of course, ended with me ramming into the good old mold/algae/rust door. Running from a spider gave me much more motivation to get to the other side of that door than simple curiosity, though.

The door quickly gave in to my terrified shove, and flew open. I lost my balance from the sudden loss of resistance and found myself flat on the floor.

_Oh joy. Just what I need, another faceplant._

After brushing myself off and regaining my dignity, I began investigating my surroundings. On the ground was a large pile of plaster or drywall or whatever, which appeared to be both recently removed and the most likely cause of the door's stubbornness.

_More importantly, the spider appears to be nowhere on me or in my sight. Out of sight, out of mind. It never existed._

With the most obvious and the most important details out of the way, I continued on to survey the rest of my surroundings.

_A sorta abandoned subway terminal? Or an underground room designed to make you think it's a subway terminal?_

I only questioned its subway terminalness because within the room were a couch, t.v., pinball machine, and a tire swing. All in all, it looked like a fun little secret hideout instead of an old, empty subway terminal. Then again, what type of person makes a secret hideout in the dark, smelly sewers?

_This is probably a break room for the sewer workers! Not really likely, but I'll go with it. I wanna play pinball! And since this a break room for diligent workers like myself, I have every right to go ahead and play._

Thus, with intentional naivety, I ran to the pinball machine.

* * *

I played three whole games of pinball before I stopped.

_And I'm only stopping because the stupid machine keeps making the ball go right where the little hitty thingys can't hit the pinball! I know it's doing that on purpose!_

I let out frustrated groan and began heading towards the exit, because the last of my reason was telling me I was starting to lose my sanity again, when I heard a voice, and a figure came out from behind a Japanese style door.

"My sons?"

When our eyes met, I could tell the figure was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Except, I'm pretty sure I didn't look anywhere near as scary as he was at that moment, considering I had a strong feeling that I was going to be attacked if I moved. And honestly, I felt pretty stunned by what I saw in front of me.

_Why is that guy wearing a rat costume?_

"Um…..hello?"


	2. Chapter 2

And I'm back with chapter 2! I want to thank everyone reading this, it's great knowing people are actually reading it. Major thanks to the people who favorited and followed, and most special thanks to CharTheMander, HorrorFan13, and princesslolitatheorca654 for reviewing! I really loved being able hear what you thought, and I'd love to hear more. Without further ado...here's chapter 2! I hope you like it!

Chapter 2 – Rat?

When our eyes met, I could tell the figure was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Except, I'm pretty sure I didn't look anywhere near as scary as he was at that moment, considering I had a strong feeling that I was going to be attacked if I moved. And honestly, I was pretty stunned by what I saw in front of me.

_Why is that guy wearing a rat costume?_

"Um…..hello?"

* * *

The rat-guy appeared to visibly relax when I talked, as though my threat level had gone from an 8/10 to a 4/10. With my fear for my safety severely dissipated, I nervously smiled at the strange stranger in front of me.

_I really want to ask why he looks like a rat, but asking questions about why someone looks weird is normally not a good way to keep them in a good mood._

Neither of us said anything past my initial greeting. So we stood there, desperately trying to figure out what to say to one another.

_Or at least I was desperately trying. I can't read his mind, but it was getting extremely awkward just standing there looking at each other._

Attempting to remove some of the awkwardness, I averted my eyes and started a close observation of everything remotely interesting to my right.

"How did you get here?"

I jerked when I heard the question. The voice had a slight accent that my experience with anime told me was Japanese. He was also definitely an adult. Nothing especially noteworthy about his voice besides that, it was just disconcerting to hear a sentient human voice come from a rat body. Even if I knew it was just a costume.

_And again. Why is this guy wearing some weirdo rat costume?_

"I…the door…" I gestured to my earlier entrance point as I struggled to form intelligent words. The rat-guy glanced to where I pointed and looked surprised, if it was possible to see emotions through his costume. Obviously, that door had not existed to his knowledge just half an hour ago.

"I see. Then why are you in here?" He seemed more curious about my arrival than worried now. I think he assumed I was no more harmless than a spider at this point.

_Spiders are still bad, though. You need to be careful around them, which is why he still didn't seem totally relaxed quite yet._

"I thought it was the break room?"

I think I was only giving the guy more questions than answers though, as he quickly replied, "You thought my home was the break room for what exactly?"

_Oh Jeez! I'm trespassing in this guy's house? Oops…well what sort a weirdo lives in the sewers anyway?...A weirdo who wears a rat costume of course._

"For the sewer cleaners?" I gave a nervous laugh, "Sorry about…you know…Making a new entrance to your home…and I used your pinball machine…"

I anxiously scratched the back of my head as the rat-man seemed to think while smoothing out his beard. When he finished thinking the next thing he said really surprised me.

_I mean, I'm expecting a 'pay for the door' or 'you better not have made any new records on the pinball machine' or even 'Leave this place before I attack you with my terrifying rat-man fury!'._

"Would you like some tea?" I stood there, gawking at what he said. Trying to process a response to what he really said rather than what I imagined he was going to say.

"um…sure…If that's okay?"

_I feel ridiculous when I ask if it's okay after he offered. If he offered, of course it's okay. That's just how I am when I'm nervous, I guess._

"Please come and sit down." He motioned to a table and chairs in a kitchen a little ways off.

_And I never noticed that room. Might have removed the break room theory if I'd seen that. Then again, just because I was observing the room when I first entered didn't mean I was observant._

I slowly walked over to the table and took a seat as the rat-man set about making the tea.

* * *

It took a few minutes, but when the tea was ready the rat-guy poured it out into small, Japanese style cups. It was a fun experience taking a sip of green tea in a Japanese style cup with a Japanese? man.

_If I get nothing else from this visit, at least I got to experience a little of what feels like real Japanese life._

"Now Miss…"

"Maria."

"Miss Maria. My name is Splinter. I assume you are surprised to see me living down here, let alone that I am a rat."

_What?_

"You're a rat?"

"What did you think I was?"

"A weird guy in a rat costume?" I could feel my face heat up even as I said that. I may have been a little too blunt, and I felt just a bit stupid.

_I'm worried about myself. I'm more concerned about how I logically assumed he wasn't a real rat than that he is a real, talking, humanoid rat. _

When Splinter didn't appear upset by what I said, I took a sip of tea to calm myself and let my curiosity take control, "If you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to; Why are you a…rat…that's…you know…talking and stuff?"

Neither of us spoke for a few more seconds. I could tell he was deciding if he should tell me or not, so I just sipped my tea and tried not to seem like I was rushing him.

"I do not mind telling you Miss Maria, but you must promise to keep us a secret. "

"Us?"

"My sons and myself."

_Oh, yeah. Didn't he say 'My sons?' before we saw each other and entered our stare off?_

_"I promise."_

The rest of what Splinter said used a certain tone of voice, and was done so smoothly, that I was sure it was a story he had told many times before.

* * *

When he finished his story, neither of us talked. He was giving me time to absorb everything, I think.

_So he was originally a human named Hamato Yoshi. Does that make him a rat person then? And he had pet turtles, and he ran into robot people, and he super-martial-arts style fought the robot people, and the robot people had glowing oozey stuff, and Mr. Yoshi and his cute turtles got hit by the oozey stuff and the robot people ran off, and Mr. Yoshi became a rat person, and the turtles turned humanoid, and now they live their lives in the sewers, doing ninja stuff._

I was overwhelmed by all the new information to say the least.

"Are your sons here right now?" I was also a little confused about where the turtle foursome were this entire time, since I hadn't seen them yet.

"No. They are out helping a friend at the moment."

_Who's friends with a rat person and four turtle people? Maybe it's a friend from before the Oozey Incident? I'm too tired to ask. I think this weirdness is starting to take its toll on me._

"Ah. Well, I think I should head home now. I won't tell anyone, like I promised."

_Normally I'd say I'd forget about it, but I don't think I'll be able to forget all of this. _

"Very well. Visit again, Miss Maria, as I'm sure my sons will be interested to meet the newest keeper of our secret."

I nodded, "See ya, then." With that, I was walking back the way I came, prepared for an unbearably long walk back home.

* * *

My mom had plenty of questions for me when I got home. Why was I so late? What was I doing? Did I have dinner already? I answered all of them with a predetermined backstory, which I made while making the long trek home, that involved me running into a friend after work, and hanging out until now.

_I could never tell Mom what I really did. She'd never believe me, and she'd think it was related to me talking to my fingers after the Overtime Incident. She'd probably tell me to see a psychiatrist. _

Unfortunately, my story also included me having dinner, as it would be weird if I'd hung out with a friend around dinner time and didn't have dinner. Thus, I went to bed with a growling stomach. I was planning on making dinner soon, though. I just had to wait for my Mom to fall asleep.

* * *

It took a long time for my mom to go to bed. I didn't have much trouble staying up, though. I didn't think I'd be getting much, if any, sleep that night. My mind was racing with thoughts of what I had seen that day.

_What do they eat? Animal or people food? __What do they do for food? _Do they have to steal stuff? What do the turtles look like? Do they walk on all fours like a normal turtle or are they more like people? Are they basically turtle looking people like Splinter is a rat looking man, or do they have more turtle like qualities? 

Once my mom was in bed, I left a safe span of half an hour after she closed her bedroom door until I opened my own and began to sneak out to the kitchen to make my specialty ramen.

_Woah! Goodbye light, hello unnatural darkness and severe lightheadedness. _

I quickly sat down on the hallway floor, head between my knees, and waited for the dizziness to pass. As my surroundings became distinct again, I could only assume the near faint I experienced was caused by hunger and the overwhelming nature of everything I did that day.

_Was any of that even real? I could have just started daydreaming in the sewer tunnels, and the sanity loss I get down there might have made me think it was all real._

I slowly stood up and quickly went about making my ramen.

_I'm gonna be really sick in the morning if I don't eat right now. Let alone how tired I'm gonna be too. I not even drowsy right now, let alone tired enough to sleep. And I have school tomorrow too._

* * *

After enjoying my ramen and curling under the covers of my bed, I made a decision.

_After school, the minute I start work, I'm going back to that room. I need to know if I really talked to Splinter. If he really has four turtle sons. I'm never gonna get a good night's sleep until I find out if it's real._


	3. Chapter 3

And the turtles finally appear! Hopefully I kept them in character for the few lines they have. I'd love to have any feedback and suggestions on that. Speaking of, thanks to everyone for viewing/favoriting/following this, and major thanks to HorrorFan13, CharTheMander (I hope I improved on your advice a little bit, thanks!), and guests SQUIDNEY and the potatoe one. The start is a dream, so it may be a bit confusing. I dunno, it makes sense to me, but I already know what is supposed to be happening. Please enjoy chapter 3!

Chapter 3 – My Dreams Lie

It wasn't often that my grandpa stayed with my mom and me. Tickets from Florida to New York aren't exactly cheap.

_Not that going anywhere else is necessarily cheaper._

Since he was a guest, I was willing to do anything for my grandpa. Even go to the supermarket and get a tomato. Which was exactly what I was doing. A journey which, at first glance, seems simple, but is actually a life-risking endeavor.

I had done well so far, avoiding the armored guards (Yes, real armored guards. Medieval style.) that the supermarket employed to protect its produce. It seems slightly odd and out of place, but then again, the supermarket only had one tomato; The Almighty Tomato.

Every day, people went into the supermarket trying to snatch The Tomato for themselves. Rumors claim that they never return.

_Which begs the question. Why in the world am I risking my life trying to get some fancy tomato from the neighborhood supermarket? Oh right, Grandpa just had to ask for this specific tomato._

I poked my head from behind a shelf full of cauliflower, _disgusting, _to find the object I desired. Waiting on a pedestal, encased in a glass cover and lit by a spotlight above it, as if it was an expensive artifact in a museum, was The Almighty Tomato.

_Wasn't expecting to find that here. I was going to look for it in the produce section, and it's currently in the cereal aisle. Lying between Cap'n Crunch and that weird, chocolate cereal with a vampire on it. Never mind the cauliflower shelf I'm behind, this is the cereal aisle, not the produce section._

I made a quick observation of my surroundings. Miraculously, all of the guards were gone, doing something else wherever they were. I made a break for it and rushed towards The Tomato.

My dash was quickly stopped by a figure plummeting from the ceiling. As it stood from the crouch it landed in, I could barely make out the shape of it, but could see enough to know that it wasn't human. It stood around three feet tall, a height that I could only assume was related to its species. A turtle. Other than the fact that it was clearly a three foot turtle no matter how you looked at it, I couldn't see any other details.

_Because of that stupid spotlight on The Stupid Tomato. I get this tomato is special for some reason, but does it really need to be lit up like the sun? I'd like to be able to see the mystery turtle._

I knew I blew it, and stood no chance in a fight against the turtle.

_I'm decent in stealth, but I'm gonna die if I'm in a fist fight._

I made a move to run away, but the turtle suddenly lunged forward. As he came in for the attack, I suddenly felt a sickening, falling sensation and closed my eyes.

* * *

"-sleep in his classroom, I'm sure Mr. Irwin would prefer for you to go home to do that. Are you awake yet?"

"Ugh." I moaned as I lifted my head from my pile of books.

_What a weird dream. Why an Almighty Tomato? _

"You slept through the entire class didn't you?" My best friend, Elisabeth questioned.

"No" I looked off to the side as I stood up, pursing my lips and trying to appear as innocent as possible.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"The clueless cow pun." I spoke intentionally slowly, knowing that, to her, only being awake for the pun the teacher said at the very beginning of class counted as sleeping for the entire period.

Elisabeth gave me a look, the one that screams 'insert sarcastic comment here', for a good minute as I hugged my books and gave my best 'innocent-but-I-know-you-know-I'm-guilty' grin.

She finally gave up and sighed as we started walking out of the classroom and to our adjacent lockers, "Did you dream up anything interesting?"

I once told Elisabeth a weird dream I had after reading The Hunger Games, and ever since, her favorite hobby seemed to have become laughing at whatever I dreamt up last night.

_That Hunger Games dream was a good one, though. Our high school was part of an invasion game with another, and the students were in a life or death war with each other. Imagine a football game where all the students participate, and the opposing teams try to kill off all the other players. There were giant mechas and other awesome weapons, but our school was low on funds so I ended up with a rusty sword. I'm proud to say I was somehow still alive at the end of that dream._

* * *

By the time I finished telling Elisabeth about my 'Almighty Tomato' dream, we were stuffing our books in our lockers while she mercilessly laughed at my dream's content.

When she was finished laughing, she looked at me seriously, "You don't normally sleep during class, though. Let alone Calculus. You're one of those messed up people who actually like math. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah" I sighed as I looked up at the ceiling, remembering how much effort I put in trying to sleep the night before, "Just had a lot on my mind last night. Couldn't fall asleep."

We started heading down the hallway, backpacks slung across our shoulders, "What did you steal this time?" Elisabeth smirked at me as I smothered a smile and gave her a look that was as blank and not humored as I could manage.

_Is this a dig on my stealing and hiding her stuff all the time, or is it because I stole those Legos in preschool and panicked about it for days until I brought them back to school? It's probably a mixture of both. She likes making fun of my sticky fingers._

"Okay, seriously. What had you so preoccupied that you couldn't sleep?" We were near the exit from the school, and our homes were in the opposite direction, so I assume she wanted to cut the jokes now and find out what was wrong before we had to separate. I rubbed my eyes, trying to wipe away the sleep so I could give a convincing lie.

_I'm actually a really good liar when I want to be. Poker face and all. I could always tell her the truth; that I was thinking about a talking ninja rat and his ninja turtle sons. She'd think it was an obvious lie, though, and I'd still have to come up with a believable one in the end to appease her._

"Honestly Lizzie, it was nothing big. It was probably a mixture of me just not being tired at all for some reason and watching that new anime you suggested to me. I was excited about watching the show, and I never got tired." I finished my explanation with an exhausted smile.

_Note to self: watch that anime. Or at least read a summary of the first few episodes. I may be tired, but Lizzie's gonna want to talk about it tomorrow now that she thinks I watched it._

Lizzie raised her eyebrow in disbelief, but we were outside now and she didn't have time to doubt what I said, "Alright. Bye!"

"See ya!" We waved to each other before we turned to walk our separate ways.

* * *

I was walking as quickly as I could, while still being inconspicuous, from my house, where I changed into clothes appropriate for walking in the sewers, to the manhole a few blocks away where I left my work equipment.

_For once I'm glad everyone is always in a rush in the city. If I started running, people might only end up being slightly suspicious that I'm in a hurry. If they even noticed._

As I lifted the manhole cover and plunged into the darkness that is New York City's sewers, my mind was once again racing with thoughts of Splinter and his turtle sons.

_I wonder if his sons will look like the Tomato guardian turtle in my dream? I don't know why I'm thinking about this anyway, Splinter and the pinball machine were probably some figments of my imagination brought to life by the insanity of walking for hours in dark sewer tunnels._

I quickly reached the first stubborn door of my previous adventure after running as fast as I could through the sewers. I caught my breath and set my Ipod to my Disney playlist. Then, with apprehension and curiosity for what I would find at the end of the tunnel, I tugged open the door and began singing along to Disney tunes as I skipped down the annoyingly long tunnel once again.

* * *

"Something's familiar about these strangers like me…I wanna know" I finished up the song I was singing after just arriving at the second door. I may have sung a few other songs after just arriving as well.

_Okay. I need to stop lying to myself. I have to have been standing in front of this door for half an hour by now. I don't think that qualifies as 'just arriving' anymore. Just open the door and walk in, you dummy. Actually, I should knock first. In case there really is a family of mutant ninjas on the other side._

I shakily lifted a loose fist and knocked three times on the door. Then, I knocked harder a few unopened seconds later.

_The first time was too quiet: they probably didn't hear me. What am I saying! There are no mutant ninjas, turtle, rat, or otherwise! This was just insanity mixed with an overactive imagination. Like how I went half my life thinking ticks were harmless bugs that lived on bathroom mirrors just because Mom told me so in a dream. I laughed at people when they told me ticks sucked blood too. I felt like an idiot when Mom finally told me that they really did suck blood and there was never a time where my bathroom mirror was covered with them._

I steeled myself and swiftly opened the door.

And promptly found my feet rooted in the doorway and my mouth ajar. There, looking just as stunned as me, were three turtles sitting around the TV. Their eyes were wide behind their colored bandanas, red, orange and blue.

_Huh. They look nothing like The Tomato guarding turtle._

The turtles recovered much faster than I did, two of them taking fighting stances while the third, the red bandana, rushed forward and slammed me against the wall.

"What're you doing here?!" Red bandana demanded, as I stood unresponsively in his grip.

_What do I say? Did Splinter not tell them about me? Splinter exists now, right? Since I'm seeing talking turtle people? Would it be egotistical to say I was the one that made this door in their home? Did they even realize they had a new door? Man, I hafta think of something quick! Red is lookin' scary mad._

Seeing Red had me handled, Blue turned around and shouted to a room farther off, "Donnie! I thought you were working on a security system for that tunnel?"

"I am Leo. It's almost finished, I'll be able to set it up in an hour or so." A new turtle came out from the room, taller than the other three and wearing a purple bandana, and consequently absorbed the scene occurring in the living room.

_Yeah. These guys really don't get many visitors down here, do they? Their guest receiving is extremely lacking. They either stand there shocked then get ready to fight, or they aggressively slam you into a wall like Red._

"What's going on here?" Purple asked as he moved to join Orange and Blue. His eyes never left the spot right where Red had me stuck against the sewer wall.

"Dude! She just walked through that door that showed up yesterday!" Orange exclaimed, looking way more excited than agitated. It was calming. I felt much less fear from Glaring Red knowing there was a turtle just over there that might feel a moral obligation to stop the murder of a sweet, adorable, innocent, trustworthy, honest, caring, lovable, little girl.

_Wow. I don't wanna count how many desperate lies I made in that one sentence. _

After Purple met up with the other two, the three of them began walking over to Red and me. Granted, Orange seemed to be bouncing more than he was walking.

_Jeez. I'm starting to feel like an animal in a zoo now. _

"Mind telling us what you are doing here?" Blue asked, with much less violent force than Red had used. He was completely serious, though. By the look on his face, as long as I can continue assuming their facial expressions work like people's, he would get the answer whether I wanted to tell it or not.

_I come in peace? No, that's what all the invading aliens that DON'T come in peace say. Would they believe me if I just said I wanted a friendly visit after meeting Splinter. And that I wanted to confirm my sanity?_

"I say if she won't tell us why she's here, we beat the answer out of her!" Red had released his hold on me to slam his fist into his palm with a grin.

_What?!_

My eyes opened wide in panic. I attempted to fervently protest the not-so-peaceful solution, but found my words trapped in my throat, unable to reach the air.

_Oh please no! I've never been beat up in my life, and I don't want to start now! Think! Think! Think! If I can't speak, how do I stop them?! Come on! Think! Thinkthinkthinkthinkthinkthink! Got it!_

My arms shot straight into the air faster than they had ever moved before.

_There! I surrender! Ha! Now pretty please don't beat me up?_


End file.
